


with cat-like tread

by AlexSeanchai



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSeanchai/pseuds/AlexSeanchai
Summary: A class picnic and some questions raised.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 7
Kudos: 85
Collections: Good Intentions: Abandoned and Unfinished WIPs





	with cat-like tread

**Author's Note:**

> I have like three different notions of where this was supposed to go. The song Marinette leaves off in the middle of is from _Pirates of Penzance_ ; it is a very _loud_ song.

"Yeah, but it's a lot quicker knockout if you knock down its Special Defense first," Adrien points out, and stuffs another lamb briouat in his mouth. Then he considers the plate, which has only three left, and steals the whole plate.

"You and your fancy stats strategies," grumbles Nino, laughing, and throws a fried plantain slice at him. (Adrien catches it and adds it to his plate.) "The only stat I need to change is the enemy's health to zero!"

"Pass me one of those dumplings, Adrien?" asks Lila, who's sitting just far enough from Adrien that he can't 'accidentally' elbow her.

Adrien swallows. "Nope, these are Marinette's." Nino's mother made enough briouats for everyone to have a few, some of the class can't eat them, and Rose asked for the ingredients list and then said she won't eat these; if Lila hasn't had enough of these yet, that's on Lila. Anyway, Marinette is heading their way: he knows the sound of her footsteps.

"Marinette isn't even coming today," Lila says, and leans over to try to swipe a briouat. "You know how flaky she—"

"Hi Lila!"

Lila shrieks, falling into the space Adrien just coolly vacated.

"You failed your Stealth check," Adrien tells Marinette, as Lila picks herself back up. "Briouat?"

"I failed nothing," Marinette says with an audible pout. "And don't mind if I do." She plops down where Adrien just was, ignoring Lila's glare, and deposits two sealed containers on the picnic blanket. "Spring rolls," she tells them. "Mylène, Nathaniel, the pink lid is vegetarian, the blue lid's pork, and Juleka, the wrappers are rice flour–based but they still might be contaminated. I hope not, but…" She shrugs, taking a briouat. "Alya, what's the red stuff?"

"Sorrel," says Alya. "Did you have to scare Lila?"

"Nope! What's sorrel?"

"Spiced hibiscus tea, apparently," Adrien answers. "You'll like it. Alya, pass the pitcher, please? And some of the festival dumplings?"

Alya passes the pitcher. "If you didn't have to scare Lila, then why did you scare Lila?"

"She failed her Perception check," says Adrien, in unison with Marinette.

Eyes widen and jaws drop all around the picnic.

_Oops._ Adrien does refrain from texting Marinette 'I told you so': he can honestly tell her he didn't _intend_ to let anything slip, but he also knew it wouldn't be long until one of them did. "Marinette walks like an elephant," he says instead. "You all _know_ that." Anyway, scattered as they're all sitting, as many as half their class could have seen her coming. Probably at least a few did.

Marinette elbows him. "I could make more noise, I suppose," she muses, with what's likely a distinctly fixed smile. "You know, for days Lila's tinnitus and anxiety are both flaring."

(There are, Adrien has reminded himself several times, excellent reasons why medical records ought to be no one's business but the patient's and their medical professionals'. There are also a number of reasons why someone's medical records might not reflect their actual health condition or conditions. Marinette's unrecorded ADHD is simply her doctor not believing Marinette's research, but some of what Adrien thought safe to tell his doctor might lead Father to ask questions Adrien doesn't want to answer.)

(Adrien would still really like a look at Lila's medical records.)

"But," Marinette says, consideringly, with a tone that people who neither are nor spend much time around Chat Noir would call a purr, "who will bell the cat?"

Lila huffs.

"I can't tell if that's a literary reference or a Chat Noir reference," Mylène says.

Because Multimouse, the correct answer is certainly 'all three'. "Both?" asks Adrien, half a beat before Marinette, then repeats "Both," half a beat after her.

"Both is good," Marinette agrees, then, ignoring the odd looks from Nathaniel and Marc as thoroughly as Lila's annoyance, intones "Here's your crowbar," half a measure or more per word here and off-key, "and your centrebit, your life-preserver—"

Adrien casually flops backward onto the grass.

"—you may want to hit!" Marinette's thrown briouat goes through where Adrien's ear just was; it avoids landing in the pitcher of sorrel only because Adrien puts his hand up to catch it.

"That was my ear," Adrien says mildly, suppressing a smile.

"It wasn't even going to ruffle your hair," Marinette counters, stealing the briouat back before Adrien can bite into it. (Adrien winces: they're probably both right.) She drums her hand on his knee, frowning, then gives up on the rest of the verse: "With cat-like tread, upon our way we steal,

**Author's Note:**

> [My comment policy](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/post/612627045048008704/as-a-fic-writer-i-need-every-reader-to-know): tl;dr happy comments make me happy. So do thinky comments, of course, but there exist jerks who think only thinky comments are worth anyone leaving.
> 
> Find me on [Dreamwidth](https://alexseanchai.dreamwidth.org/) and [Tumblr](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/).


End file.
